


On Wings of Ash

by DarkDragonoftheNever



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, High Fantasy, M/M, Not Beta Read, questionable editing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-02-18 03:06:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13091109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkDragonoftheNever/pseuds/DarkDragonoftheNever
Summary: 2014 Nano. Gilbert is a Phoenix, with the charge of finding his dragon’s bones so that he can start the process of rebirth with the other half of his soul.  Ivan is cursed with no cure, no matter where or how far he travels. Both looking for something lost, the question is, who’s quest is ultimately impossible to complete?





	1. Prologue/Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this in my archives forever. It's no where near finished so I thought I could just start posting it here, hopefully a chapter a week, and get my butt in gear to finish this thing. The pairing is eventual btw, so just be prepared for that. Hopefully you all like it.

# Prologue

The Search was something that happened to all of them at least once in an millennium, but rarely did it ever drag as long as his was. He had been on Searches before, be they because of fate or because of the random chaos that the universe sometimes liked to throw into the mix. Either way, he had never been on one this long, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever get rest, he was tired of this form. He was tired of this life, and he just wanted to sleep for a while.

He looked at the charred bones, well some of them were charred. They were from the battle that was waged seven centuries before, one that took the life of his dragon, of his other half. Others were ornate, some had crude carvings of wards in them, but he was still missing some. They were not ground into dust, he would be able to have been reincarnated already if that was the case. Instead he had to keep searching, scouring the world for the missing pieces the scavengers stole in the aftermath that Gilbert hadn’t been able to find since.

With a deep sigh, Gilbert left his hiding place, flying off into another city. Perhaps here, he would find what he was looking for.

# Chapter One

The charm didn’t work, not that he was expecting it to. The sorcerer that sold it to him was just as confused as the others had been. Curses had been around just as long as spells to cure them, but Ivan hadn’t found the spell or charm to break it yet. No information was left by the madman that cursed him, he had taken the hit for his younger sister and now, she was long dead while he continued to live on.

“I’m sorry,” the sorcerer said, shaking his head. “I cannot help you. I do not have the power.”

No one had the power.

“That is okay,” Ivan said with a sad smile. “You tried your best. Do not fret. You are not the first who have failed.”

He left the building and back into the bazar. That particular sorcerer said that he could cure any curse, but Ivan held little hope that it was true. After all, so many had failed, it wasn’t surprising to him anymore.

The second sun was just rising over the horizon, the first already starting its slow climb in the sky. Soon it would be unbearably hot, and Ivan didn’t want to be stuck outside once the air started to heat up. It was already hard to breathe, with the humid air that never went away, only sometimes lessoned by the rains that would come each evening that finally gave the world a peace that it needed. It just made Ivan remember the land where he came from, and how different it was from where he found himself now.

Long bridges tied all the little houses and shops together, the trees still growing higher than Ivan had seen anywhere else in the world. In his time spent in this city, he couldn’t remember the last time that he looked upon the ground, and there was good reason for that. Here, beasts roamed the underbrush that Ivan never wanted to see, not from the folklore that he listened to or the horror stories of those that brought back food.

Sometimes during the night, Ivan could swear he could hear the grumblings below, and decided that curiosity was not worth the trouble.

There was screaming down below where he was, peering over the edge of the rope bridge, he looked a few levels down and he couldn’t tell exactly what was the cause of the commotion, at least a bridge hadn’t broken. Those accidents were often deadly and took a long time to get the bridges back up, and the alternative routes were often twice as long to take as the main walkways.

“Let it breathe,” he heard someone shout, and the throng of people moved a bit, still peering in the middle of awed spectators.

Let it breathe?

Ivan looked at where he was in proximity to the level the commotion was on, thinking to get a better look. Just anything to take his mind off the oppressive heat and the fact that his curse was going to stay with him instead of being cured. He as quickly as he could made his way closer, peering with a few others where everyone had gathered, an interesting sight to see in the middle of the crowd, head propped up.

A phoenix in such a place was an omen, a white one, Ivan had never heard of such a thing, but the murmurs around him were dark and full of foreboding.

“Get rid if it,” someone hissed. “it’ll call its dragon and tear down this city and burn the forest!”

“A dragon, this far south,” someone else asked. “There hasn’t been one here since this place was founded! There’s no way a dragon would come here. Everyone knows that they like mountains!”

“But times are changing,” warned an older woman that was on a bridge above Ivan. He looked up at her, as her dark eyes stared down at the figure below them all. “I have heard that they can even take on human form, and are looking for new homes. A phoenix here is a bad omen. Get rid of it.”

“This one is harmless,” the woman who was holding it shot back. “A phoenix with a dragon is not in this shape and you know it.”

With a snort, the old woman started walking away, shaking her head and muttering about the ending times and dying gods. Such talk Ivan had heard before, and it was always from the older generation. Why this was, he wasn’t able to pinpoint it, but he was sure that it was due to the fact that every generation differed so much from the pervious one that it was hard to look forward to the future. If he hadn’t lived so long himself, he was sure that he would agreed with her.

Dragons stayed in the mountains and surrounding forests. These kinds, the humid lands where the twin suns breathed in their fire as much as they wanted was not the place for them. A place where air and fire danced, where earth was forgotten below and magic, therefore, was harder to bring up and dragons preferred to be a place with magic. There was no way a dragon was coming to this place without good reason.

“It’s moving.”

Ivan’s attention snapped back to the large bird, that seemed to jump up, making the bridge wobble and screams come from everyone on the same thing. It spread its wings, and with one downbeat it was airborne, tearing through the treetops. Ivan watched it go as he clung onto his own wavering bridge, there was commotion all around as people told each other the same story, even though everyone there had just witnessed it.

It had an idea come to Ivan, and as soon as the bridge settled, he made his way down to the library. It wasn’t a big one, books were hard to keep in such temperatures, especially as they got older and scribes fewer and fewer. Not many thought that keeping books were important, as there were many charms coming out that could keep the knowledge, but tha was only for the wealthy or those that knew how to tap into them. Or rather had the magical ability to tap into them.

Besides the curse, Ivan was not one of those people, and relied on books. He thought of becoming a scribe, but that required learning the seven languages and he didn’t have time for that, well, at least not learning how to write them properly. Learning how to speak and read them was a whole different matter. He had the time for that kind of learning, that was taking him towards his goal after all.

The library was in the trunk of the largest tree of the city, the one that was said to give shelter to the first inhabitants and everything branched off from there. Entering, old magic made the inside larger than what looked like could remotely be possible, but such ways were often used back when the city was in its infancy. To make most of the limited space and those that needed shelter from the beasts below.

He quietly went to the ladder, whispering to it what he wanted to find. If his haunch was right, he was in the wrong area to be searching. There were legends that he had forgotten about, things that everyone took for granted as true that Ivan never thought to look into. After all, what good was a legend to him, that had a real life problem? He felt dumb for not considering it before.

“Take me to the stories of Phoenixes,” he told the ladder, and it begun to move them both swiftly and quietly through the selves. This was one of the smaller libraries that he had been to, most of the shelves were empty, awaiting the time when books and documents would become as popular as they were in the beginning, but may be waiting for a very long time.

The ladder finally stopped, a scarce selection stood before him, that made Ivan sigh. At least this library had something to offer him instead of nothing. He often had that problem in the smaller places that he had come to and asked to use their resources.

Taking the book, he flipped through them. Most of this he knew, he didn’t need to know how they came to be, or the fact that they were tied to dragons. That was knowledge that children grew up knowing, and to watch for them. A phoenix was never far from their dragon, that was just common knowledge as the color of the sky or the feel of the suns on the skin.

Finding what he was looking for, Ivan slammed the book shut, returning it to its space. He was in the wrong place, or perhaps the right one? It all depended really. No one had actually sought out a phoenix before, knowing the wrath of the dragon was close, but then again, he had tried everything else.

Why not something completely insane?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive any weird formatting. I tried to catch it all. :

# Chapter Two

Where was this place? It wasn’t like any other place that he remembered being. What brought him here? He felt something, a flash of something in his mind that he couldn’t quite grasp. Something familiar yet strange all at once.  
He tried to open his eyes, but they would refuse to. There it was. That flash of something again. It wasn’t so much a picture, it was like a lingering scent of something pleasant and familiar, but he could have sworn that he had never caught a scent like that in either a very long time or ever before. But it was so welcoming and familiar, if only he could grasp it for a moment longer, he would be able to figure it out.

He didn’t have wings, but he wanted to spread something, something was calling to him. Come. Come here.

He wanted to go. He wanted to go so badly, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t even open his eyes. He wanted to cry out, to scream his frustration to whoever would listen. What was this feeling? What was this calling? And what was the thing that he just couldn’t seem to get a firm grasp on?

Ivan woke up on the floor, tumbling from his hammock bed that was the norm for the area. He sat up stiffly, that had to have left a mark of some sort. He was sure of it. He clicked his tongue as he thought about his dreams, looking out towards the horizon to see the first of the twins to start rising. He had slept all night? It didn’t feel like it. It felt like he just laid down.

Getting up slowly, Ivan looked around the small room that he was renting out. There was a slight wind coming through the open, screened in window. The birds had already woken, false phoenix birds played on the branches that were close to his window, feeding on the small berries the tree had. Their colors were bright like everything else in this area was, almost blindingly so. It really was the twin’s special place, that they touched with their power and gifted with life.

But seeing an actual phoenix, it was so much larger than the little birds that played outside of his window. About the size of a toddler, or at least just the body. The wings were large to carry such a bird, and strong. Elongated neck and crest of feathers that had tints of pale color, so unlike these ones, although it was said that phoenixes were to be brightly colored, that one was muted, why?

Ivan began to pack up his meager belongings. A few changes of clothing, some food, and any money that he was able to make doing little odd jobs in the area he happened to be in. He had actual gold pieces that were always worth the weight it added to his pockets, but that was always on his person, so that they wouldn’t be stolen. Living so long allowed him to acquire as much wealth as he wanted, but he had something to take care of. Something more important than all the gold the world held, although he had to admit, being able to travel so freely had been a perk.

Walking out of the room, the little girl that was helping her parents run the small inn jumped at the sight of him, he thought perhaps because he was taller than a lot of the people, or even travelers, here. They mostly stood at his shoulder at the tallest, and he felt like a giant lumbering around the tree city. He smiled kindly at her, the girl going at ease and smiling back, running to do her chores.

He liked the people here, the climate was disagreeable. He was used to something a bit cooler, but he made a note to come back, at least one more time if he could. Perhaps to enjoy the things that he didn’t have time for right now. He knew he would be coming back to this inn. The family that ran it was fair and their prices were agreeable. He could only hope that it would stay that way.

“Leaving so soon,” the innkeeper asked, a frown on her face. “You only just got here.”

“I have business to attend,” Ivan said thickly. He didn’t really talk much here, he preferred to listen to the airy language rather than speak it. If he had to say it sounded like something, the false phoenix’s chitterings had to be the closest comparison. His own was not so pretty, well, airy. His tongue always felt too thick to make the sounds properly.

“Come visit us again,” the innkeeper bade, ever friendly smile. “May you always find safe travels and may your feet never touch the earth.”

“May the branches ever hold,” Ivan smiled himself, they were infectious. He learned the little sayings the time he was here. How long again? He wasn’t sure, time passed by him so oddly now. Two weeks? Time enough to pick up the little differences of hellos and goodbyes at least.

Paying the amount that was owed, he started on the bridge that led him here, staring out into the forest. Going back the way he came wouldn’t do anything, he decided, heading down the main bridge. It was bustling with people doing their business so that they could take off the oppressive afternoon heat, when it was rather common for naps and other forms of relaxation.

He went further west, until the heat started to take its toll on him. No one else was out on this particular bridge, which wasn’t uncommon. Travel between the cities was usually done in the rainy season, rarely during this one of sun and heat. He just thought that perhaps he picked an unlucky time to be traveling in the area at the wrong time, but liked the quiet that he was surrounded by. Just the sounds of the forest, that was always a luxury that he allowed himself. Nature would forever fascinate him. He was sure that he could live many millennium and still not see all the wonders that the world held.

During the worst heat of the day, when even the birds did not sing, Ivan rested on the bridge, wishing anything for a breeze or the cooling rain. He had an umbrella made from the large leaves of the plants that grew up the trunks of the trees that made up the posts of the bridge, the people here using what was around them mostly to be able to get around. Not that he could blame them, what with the beasts down below.

Speaking of one of the ‘unholy ones’, he heard something that sounded like a rumble, but felt much more sinister. He wasn’t sure why the sound had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, but he felt fear and didn’t want to look down, even though he doubted that he would see anything. They always moved around most during the heat, when everything else seemed to slow. Was it cooler down there? Hotter? Where Ivan wanted to know, he didn’t want to risk his neck to find out.

When the movement stopped, Ivan started on his journey again, not wanting to be stuck out here alone after nightfall. Who knew exactly what came up from the bottom. There were rumors of those that got caught late at night when out on these remote bridges. Ivan didn’t want to be another poor traveler.

It took him until nightfall to reach the next city, this one smaller than the one he was just in, but it had just as many walkways as the other place. And just as many buildings, it just seemed smaller, perhaps because all the buildings were more scattered and in the higher reaches of the branches. Ivan wasn’t so sure.

“You best find an inn soon,” a well meaning man said, passing by above him. “They’re about to start moving about, and once the doors are closed, you will be stuck out here, friend.”

“Thank you friend,” Ivan replied, trying to seem friendly. Smiling was reserved here, he was expected to take such warnings seriously with his face and just have the upper inflection of his voice. It had taking some getting used to, but he was finding it easier the more that he interacted with the people.

With a nod, the man left, going wherever he was, while Ivan found the inn. It was pretty full, something about a celebration and many people traveling from the intertwined cities to visit relatives. He was able to find a room, luckily, as the doors closed.

They were heavy wooden things, with sigils that glowed a deep green, almost the color of the leaves of the surrounding trees. Ivan had learned that they were ancient wards, kept alive by the need for protection. It was said that they hid the dwellings from the creatures that lived below, although Ivan wasn’t too sure how much he believed of that story.

“Where are you from,” a younger traveler asked. She stared at him with wide dark eyes. He often stood out, pale skin among those that had darker skin all around him, and often got curious glances, or questions such as this.

“A far away place,” Ivan replied, having a seat at a table, ordering a drink and a roll. “A place where instead of rain, it is frozen white and cold. Much like my skin.” He didn’t know how else to explain it, not in this tongue anyway. Where he knew enough to get by, these kinds of interrogations rarely went well.

“Like on the mountains,” the girl said brightly. “There’s rumors that dragons live there! And that there was a phoenix in Iss-yer. You came from that way, right? Is it true?”

“There was one, but it left just as suddenly as it came,” Ivan replied truthfully. No use getting the girl’s hopes up. He hoped that he was right, that the bird of omen was gone for good. A dragon here would be terrifying.

The girl frowned, and was called away by someone that looked like an older brother, being scolded for bothering him. Ivan just waved it off, it was no bother to him, it actually allowed him to use some of the language that he was picking up, and that was more than he could ask for right now.

When his order came, Ivan was going to happily eat when there was a strong knocking at the door, more of pounding, and the sigils started to glow brightly, almost blindingly, and the inn fell silent, everyone staring at the door.

As abruptly as it stated, it stopped, and the glowing died down before the door swung open, and a youth fell down, stark naked, onto the wooden floor.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! Decided to celebrate by two chapters this week. The weekly one will still appear on Tuesday. ♥

# Chapter Three

Gilbert knew there was something there. He was called to this place, magic never lied to him, but it never told him exactly where to look either. He was magic’s precious child, that was why he was gifted so many lives and powers to help cure the cursed world from the claws of the Illuminated, but it rarely helped in any useful way. Such a hands off way of parenting, it was draining.

He had never been near the Valley of the Suns’ Domain, no phoenix came here without good reason. The Suns were said to be jealous of the power that phoenixes were given in the beginning, and banished them to the darkness and outreaches of the world, where their power waned and his kind had to rely on magic’s kindness and the elements that forged the world together. For the Suns would refuse to lend them the power like they did others.

They struck him down in a flash, but he had the strength to rise again, before they fought.

They pulled at him, forcing him high and then dropping him, the thermals were not steady and his eyes could not tell where they were going to fail him or come up again. His past time, he was thrown to the ground, as soon as they set. 

The thermals even turned against him, and then the Dark Ones came out.

They helped him up, they were dumb creatures, at least that was what Gilbert though of them. They worshiped the darkness and his own kind as a thing of wonder, able to fight back against the Light and therefore, bring them into the air that they had never tasted, nor would ever taste if Gilbert had his way about it.

But even at night, the Suns’ power was evident, no matter where he went, he was blocked. Until he finally broke one, using up the last of his strength, so that he might start his Search.

–

The silence that fell soon was disrupted, by a scream and a scurry of everyone. Most went to the door, murmuring what Ivan could only guess were spells of protection, some even hanging wards over the door, some crying and urging the sigils to regain their power, all ignoring the one that disrupted it.

Ivan was much more interested in the… boy? Man? Sometimes Ivan had trouble telling the age of someone, but he looked about the same age, if not a little younger. At least to Ivan’s physical age. He poked the youth, snow white hair and pale body, it was odd. Even his pale hair wasn’t this color. It was like fresh snow, and felt… just as soft. He had a feeling that he was not going to like what was going to happen with this.

“Cursed one,” someone hissed, who Ivan didn’t know, this was a problem, standing up to realize that a lot of those that were by the door now surrounded the youth. The sigils were back to glowing, which meant that they would be protected once again from whatever forces were outside the forest at night, which was good. But that also meant all attention was on the unconscious boy.

“Don’t say something like that,” someone else chided. “He most likely is just a sorcerer.”

“A sorcerer that can beak the ancient protection,” someone else shouted, as the throng of people started to talk about what they were going to do.

Some said to throw the youth out, it was too strange. That perhaps the dark one. Others said to give him clothing and a warm bed, perhaps he was attacked by the dark ones and therefore the sigils allowed him entry. And then Ivan lost track of the voices. There were too many at once for him to understand, and all speaking so rapidly.

He regretted not learning more of the language. It really would have been more helpful to him right now.

That’s when everyone went quiet again, as the youth began to stir, sitting up, and oblivious to his nakedness, as if that was the way that he always was. Red eyes darted around, Ivan could see the fact that he was threated, being trapped like this. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen now, especially as the boy went under the scrutiny of so many eyes.

“You just gong to let me sit here naked while you all stare,’ the youth barked, glaring at them. “Seriously not one of you gives me anything? What kind of place is this? Not even offering a shirt!”

“You broke the sigil Dark One,” someone called out. “You deserve nothing!”

Oh that had the youth laughing, it was a condescending laughter if Ivan had ever heard one, before it stopped abruptly. Ivan slowly moved backward, going to his pack, pulling out an extra shirt. It would be baggy, but it would at least cover something, and if that was what the youth wanted, Ivan could at least give the curious boy that much comfort.

Throwing the shirt, he didn’t see the other catch it, but heard the soft ruffle of him putting it on, the crowd murmuring back to themselves about what to do.

“We should wait until morning,” the innkeeper said, crossing her arms, and looking down at Gilbert. “For now, tie him up. He will sleep here for the night.”

“You’re so kind to your guests,” Gilbert hissed, standing up, the gifted shirt falling on his mid thighs. He crossed his arms, and stared down any that dared to challenge him into a contest. “What about this hospitality I keep hearing about?”

“There is none for an ally of the Dark Ones,” came the reply, and before he could protest, Gilbert was tied to a post, a blanket thrown on him, and left alone. Everyone kept a distance from him for the rest of the evening, and there was an uneasy silence now, even though every once in a while, Ivan heard the other chuckle, at what, he wasn’t sure.

–

When everyone else retired, Ivan found himself unable to sleep. He snuck out of his room, he could hear prayers in other rooms as he passed by them. Asking the Suns for their protection from the Dark Ones and the one that They have sent. Ivan didn’t believe in a lot of that. The elements were more important to him anyway. They controlled the limited magic that humanity was able to possess. Whatever gods that were there stopped listening long ago, and yet humanity still didn’t catch on, sending their prayers and offerings to those that no longer believed in their creations.

He made his way to where they had tied up the boy, Ivan not surprised the other wasn’t asleep, or had hardly moved.   
The intense stare unnerved him, it watched him as he crossed the room quietly, almost as if wary and yet unafraid. 

There was a sense of something, Ivan wasn’t sure what to call it. Malice? No that was wrong. Danger? Perhaps. He just felt like he was dealing with something that he had never had before, something timeless?

“You should be praying,” the boy said, odd eyes on him. “Like the rest of them. I can hear them out here, begging the Suns. Why don’t you?”

“I’m not from the area, just passing through,” Ivan said, trying to be quiet. The other’s voice didn’t seem to echo, but he knew that his would if he talked too loudly. He didn’t want to bring any attention to what he was doing.

“Oh a traveler then,” the boy said, almost boredly, but his eyes said something else, something akin to curiosity, but Ivan couldn’t place it.

“Yes,” Ivan said unsurely, sitting near the captive.

“Have you heard any places that were selling dragon bones?”

The question took Ivan completely off guard. Here, people feared dragons, so much so that even mention of them, hell the appearance of a phoenix, was something to cause alarm over. He just stared for a minute, like he was thinking and shook his head.

“I have not heard of such things,” Ivan replied, the boy deflated a bit. “They fear dragons here. They do not like having anything of them around.”

“Well they do,” the boy said with a sigh. “A fang is somewhere here. And I need to find it.”

“A dragon’s fang,” Ivan echoed. How big was that? He was sure that they were large, he had seen dragons in his youth. 

They were large, bulking creatures, some with their fangs so large that they hung out of their mouths. Was that the kind that he was looking for? If it was, then Ivan thought that it wouldn’t be a hard thing to find. It would immediately be seen as cursed, and left alone.

At least, if it was recognizable as one. He wasn’t sure the people around here knew exactly what one looked like.

“I need to find it. Untie me.” The boy looked determined, and almost glowing.

Ivan didn’t realize that his body wasn’t obeying him until he was untying the youth, who scoffed at the surroundings, going to the door and touching it. The power had the other reeling back, face twisted in pain and anger. Approaching the door again, something flared, whether it was the boy’s hand or the door’s waning power, Ivan wasn’t quite sure anymore.

“I’ll gift you with a name. Call it to the north, I will hear it and come to your aid,” the youth said, opening the door. “Call forth Gilbert. And I will come. I hope you’ll recognize me.”

With that, the youth left, Ivan alone with the ties and the blanket. He was sure he’d never see the shirt again, but that was the least of his worries now.


	4. Chapter 4

# Chapter Four

Ivan spent a few minutes making it look like Gilbert just suddenly disappeared into thin air, or somehow escaped. He slipped back into his room, continuing to hear the prayers throughout the night. He wondered if he was magically inclined, if he would be able to feel the power moving through the little inn. He didn’t think about it long, deciding to sleep before the night got too late, and the two suns made it impossible to sleep.

When he woke up, he was sure that he dreamed something important, although what it was, he couldn’t remember. He just remembered colors and flashes, things that he had never seen before, and yet felt familiar. He lay in his hammock for an hour, just trying to understand exactly what he had seen, and where it had come from. Was it from the curse mingling with the power? Or from being touched with the power of whatever Gilbert was.

The thought of the magical being, Ivan still wasn’t sure exactly what he was, made him wonder if he ever found his dragon fang, especially since it shouldn’t be that hard, and if he had left. It would make sense that he left the area, the people here were suspicious of him, and didn’t want him there. It would make sense to move on.

Getting up and washing his face, Ivan changed his clothing and came out to the common area, where there was excited talking which he expected. After all, Gilbert was gone with no signs of struggle, and the door looked as normal as it ever did to Ivan. He sat at a table, and just listened around him, trying to pick up any details that they knew.

There were many theories flying around, mostly about Dark Ones. Ivan wasn’t well versed in the religion here, but he knew that most people didn’t like the dark, and worshiped the twin suns as the one that gave them life, which was complete opposite as the way he was raised, but learned to take such things with a grain of salt.

That is until the door opened, not in such an ominous way as it had done the previous night, but it caught everyone’s attention. A town elder came into the inn, a young attendant with them as was custom. It was thought that after a long life, an elder should have a teenage to young adult attendant, to help speak for them, and cater to any need. It was just the way of taking care of those that were precious to them, but the looks on both of their faces said that what they needed was grave in saying. Ivan was curious but at the same time, worried for some reason about what they were going to say.

“it has been determined that a Dark One was here, and has escaped this place as well,” the attendant said, the elder bowing her grayed head sadly with a nod. “We will have a mender come in to mend and strengthen the sigils. There is one that knows the old ways and will be able to do that.

“However, travel will be cut off to the main cities. The bridges will only be un blocked when it is shown that things are back under control.”

Ivan frowned at that, he wouldn’t be able to make it to any of the larger cities? That would put a damper on his research as well as anyone else who was coming and going to the cities, but he could understand the measure. It was to keep the places with larger populations safe, and it would take longer to quell a city’s fears than a smaller one, or a village, Ivan still didn’t like it.

“That is all.”

With that, the elder and her attendant left, going to the next building to explain the situation. Perhaps in more detail since the only people that had seen the event were all in the inn now, as a hush overcame the inn.

He remembered that he wasn’t the only one traveling the area, and some of the faces were devastated, their destinations blocked off, or even their homes if they hailed from one of the larger places. Ivan felt some pity for them, but didn’t know enough of the language to speak his condolences, and didn’t know the socially acceptable way to do so anyway.

Heading back into his room, Ivan packed up his belongings, he didn’t want to stay in this little city, no matter how suspicious it made him seem. He had to find a way out of this country, and make for one that knew more about Phoenixes, and perhaps even a little about dragons. Here, things would just been too hectic and hard to really research properly.

They were nice people, Ivan knew this, but his goals kept him from wanting to stay too long, even though he knew that he would be back here again one day, to relax and take in everything the area had to offer.

“Leaving already,” the same gril from last night asked, coming up to him with a worried look. “With a Dark One roaming about?”

“The Dark Ones will come whether we travel or not,” Ivan replied truthfully, frowning. He hoped that she got his meaning. “It is best to keep going forward and prepare and fight when you need to.”

“May the Illuminated light your way home,” the girl said, still worried.

“May your day always be stronger than the night,” Ivan replied kindly, paying his fare and leaving.

Now he didn’t know where to go. He knew how to go through the thick jungle using the main routes, but now those were being closed off to him, he had to find another way around. He just hoped that it was possible.

Setting off into the west, using a bridge that he hoped lead off to an unblocked city, Ivan settled out, shivering a little at just how high in the treetops this one was. Like it would take him a long time, so they moved it high into the branches. 

That didn’t bode well to Ivan, having to deal with sleeping outside while the beasts roamed below. Where he didn’t believe that Gilbert was a threat as everyone was making him out to be, he was sure that the beasts that moved below were.

Checking his belongings again, he started on the climb and then walk before he could turn back around and be stuck in the city for an undetermined amount of time, which was always dangerous. Ivan learned quickly not to stay in a place for too long, his lack of aging was always a source of conversation when that happened. He had been chased out of more places than he wanted to remember, and he didn’t want to be banned of coming back to these jungles. He almost wished the cities were larger, like they were on the plains or in the mountains. A place where it was much easier to hide and move around without changing the scenery too much. At least for a little while. Here he had to keep on the move.

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

Ivan froze, he recognized the voice, but he didn’t expect to see Gilbert coming from the opposite direction. He was fully clothed, and had a worn leather necklace with a small fang tied securely to his neck. Ivan had never seen such a small dragon fang, if that really what it was. Perhaps it was from a slain youth?

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know me,” Gilbert huffed, crossing his arms. “I wanted to thank you again for freeing me is all.”

“It is surprising,” Ivan said, after a moment of fumbling over his words, trying to find the right ones. How could Gilbert still be in the area? Didn’t he know how unwanted he was? The previous night should have proven that he needed to get out of there as fast as possible, not linger around.

“Surprising? I can blend in anywhere I want if I try hard enough,” Gilbert scoffed. “You shouldn’t worry about me, mortal. I can take care of myself like I have since the world was born and will continue even after your life ends.”

Ivan decided to allow Gilbert to think he was mortal, it would make things easier anyway. He didn’t want to explain the curse to this creature anyway. Perhaps Gilbert was one of those tricksters that he had read about in other texts? The kind that liked to play pranks and get travelers to fall to their deaths sot that they could eat their flesh. Where Ivan doubted that something akin to that would kill him, he wasn’t in a rush to see if that was what would free him.

“Forgive me then,” Ivan replied. “Although now I am curious. Exactly what kind of immortal gets captured in a place where it should know that it is not welcome? I’m sure you know exactly where you are welcome and where you are not.”

“That is not of your concern,” Gilbert snapped, immediately going on the defensive. Ivan didn’t expect that, this boy was interesting.

“I see,” Ivan replied. “But I must be on my way. Do you know the way out of these jungles? I am interested in heading back north.”

“Then you’re on the wrong bridge,” Gilbert frowned, but looked and saw the main bridge being blocked off, as they were high enough to have a nice vantage point before the branches became too thick. “Or perhaps the right one. Take this one to the fork, and then head north. It should take you about a week to get out. It’s how most of the trade routes go, and it’s about the season for them, so those bridges should remain open.”

“Thank you,” Ivan said, bowing his head a bit. Was that respectful? He could only hope so. He didn’t want to anger a potential god anyway, although he didn’t think Gilbert was that level of immortal. He doubted that a god, even a minor god, would have ever allowed him to be taken by surprise completely naked and tied in an inn by the residents.

Gilbert seemed to bask in even the smallest form of humbleness out of Ivan, grinning. “At least you know how to be polite. Just remember how to call me, alright? Just know I’ll be waiting.”

And with that, Gilbert brushed passed him, Ivan looking behind him at the retreating back, sort of in a daze. Gilbert smelled of snow and fire, it was an odd combination that had him wondering again exactly what he was, and if he would be able to find out. Waiting for him to call? That was odd.

Following the directions, Ivan found himself at the edge of the jungle in a week. Sleeping outside was hard, and he ended up learning how to sleep under some of the larger leaves during the rainy evenings, which suited him better sot that he could be kept on the move during the night. He hated not being able to see what was below him, or know what the howls or grunts were, but he had made it, mostly safe and sound, and saw the ground after it felt like years.

It was more solid than he remembered, Ivan looking back at the beginning of the treed cities, everything looked so much larger while he stood here on the ground, the path that lead up to it was faded, which made Ivan wonder if this once was a trade route until it was moved somewhere else. Perhaps Gilbert was an important immortal after all, to know of an old route that most likely wasn’t in use anymore, but was in the older times.

With that, Ivan set out northward, the gray skies promising rain as he went.


	5. Chapter Five

# Chapter Five

The path was hard to follow in the rain. Ivan mused that perhaps, at one time, it was well traveled and well marked, but it wasn’t that way anymore. How long had it fallen to disuse? It was hard to tell. The rain didn’t help, all the ground muddy and finding the small, faint markers was sometimes almost impossible, Ivan guessing and praying that he found a more clearly marked one, or perhaps something that was clearly the path that he was supposed to follow.

What would he find at the end of it? Hopefully someplace that was still populated and would have something for a traveler like him to sleep in. Like a nice warm bed and if he was lucky, a roaring fire in the pit. Where the forest was often warm and muggy, the cooler plains that seemed to stretch out before him were rain soaked and didn’t know yet the kiss of the twin suns’ warmth.

He kind of hoped the weather continued honestly. He just looked around him, the sea of grasses kept short by the roaming herds of the area had to be draining, with no protection other than his borrowed leaf, and with all this water, he was sure that he would wish for the clouds and rain to come back so that he didn’t have to worry about dying of dehydration or heat exhaustion.

Not that he would. Most likely. Maybe. Again, where Ivan wanted to cure his curse, he wasn’t in a hurry to find out all the other ways it could be broken that involved pain or him going through a trial that he would either survive with excruciating pain or with a wasted body. Both of those would take time to heal from, questions he didn’t want to answer to certain people, and just would put his journey on hold for longer than he wanted.

By the end of the week, Ivan wished that he stocked up more on food, the clouds still hung around, but there were peeks of sun every now and again. Hunting was scarce, and Ivan didn’t have any of his gear, most abandoned when he entered the forest, he could only hope that it helped whoever drug it up, if it was anyone that could use it anyway. He assumed that he would be able to get out he same way that he came in, but that didn’t seem to be the case and backtracking would be next to impossible now.

It didn’t help that he didn’t want to lose the sight of the path that he was on. It was hard enough to follow as it was, but at least he was able to get enough water to last him from the scattered rain showers. So he had something to get him through the hunger pains and the regretful decisions to have to get rid of the spoiled fruit that was increasing by the day. He didn’t expect it to take this long, he could only hope that it didn’t last that much longer.

A week and half into his journey, Ivan came upon a fork on the road. One looked a little newer and well traveled than te other one. Have taken chances before, Ivan stayed on the old path, not sure if he was sure if the other one was just more well constructed or if his magical immortal friend would have any idea. Most likely not, and where Ivan was hopeful for food and a good bed, he figured going the old way would provide something of a challenge and adventure.

It didn’t take long to reach the first buildings, most old and in bad repair, but the further that he went, the better things started to look. There were people here, or at least there were recently. He found himself in the middle of a small village, onlookers staring up at him, and he, once again, felt like a giant. He was from the southern wastes, where everything seemed to grow taller. Up here, in the north, people seemed to stay shorter, but hardier. After all, from what he gleamed from books, northern dragons were not something to be trifled with.

“You know common,” an elder asked, an aged woman with a rather tame dog by her side, although Ivan didn’t trust it that much. Dogs were just as crafty as humans with hiding their killer instinct.

“Yes,” Ivan smiled, happy to be speaking a langue that he knew. Northern Common was still very different than his own language, but it was one of the first that he knew, and one of the few that he knew how to converse in fluently and even write.

“Good. Come. You will be staying in this house. A traveler from the forest is rare now, that the Dark Ones roam the ground. No one goes there either. Not in many years.”

It was obvious to Ivan that the elder didn’t have a great grasp on Common herself, but he didn’t mind. He wouldn’t’ use that many confusing words, or at least he hoped not. So that they could understand each other.

“I am a traveler from the South,” Ivan explained. “The tree folk are safe from the Dark Ones in their homes, they are well protected.”

“That is because we gave them the power,” the old woman said, yawning as her dog yipped. “They think it is an ancient way, because to them, it has been that long since we visited. But we are makers of such things. The Dark Ones do not dare enter our villages. They know the power.”

Ivan nodded, understanding. So this area was protected too, although he didn’t see how right away. They protected themselves in a more subtle manor, which Ivan could appreciate. It meant that their defenses were stronger, or perhaps the Dark Ones could see where the power was drawn from, but it wasn’t Ivan’s fight. The Dark Ones were something to be revered, not feared and cast out.

He had to keep remembering that he was from a different place, with different values. Sometimes, old bias crept up on him and clouded his judgment.

“Stay here.”

The old woman opened the door to a small building, Ivan couldn’t see any windows except a very small one in the door, and he frowned. He was going to be stuck in here? Was there some sort of ritual going on? He did say he was from the South, maybe he should have kept that more to himself than to openly tell that to anyone. Especially in a rural village like this.

Mistakes like this, Ivan had done before, but followed in with a sigh. He most likely was going to be kept here a few days, just to make sure that he didn’t call any Dark Ones. He had faced this kind of thing before, and had witnessed it from some of the more fearful border cities on both sides, not wanting to anger the gods that they chose to pray to, that seemed to give them more power over the other. It was just annoying really.

Ivan had to slouch to get into the small building, finding a small bed in the corner, that didn’t look too comfortable, and that was it. The door was locked behind him, the pale gray light of the fading day was his only company.

At least he was able to keep his belongings. Sometimes he wasn’t even afforded the luxury of those. He took his sleeping blanket and laid it on the bed, laying on it and finding that it was a god idea that he had done that. There was little to no padding on the bed and he could still feel the springs. He could only hope that this place had some food and that he would be able to get some eventually.

Three days passed and no one came to unlock the door or to check on him. He was running out of water and every time he tried the door, he found it just as sturdy and locked as before. There was no other movement in the village, making Ivan think that perhaps and Illuminated one tricked him into being locked in here, which wasn’t something that Ivan liked particularly.

An even larger problem was what way was north. The clouds refused to give way, and Ivan couldn’t see the stars well enough to try to even call on Gilbert. Would the other even come anyway? And why such a random direction? South was always the winds that carried voices to the Dark Ones, North for the Illuminated, West for the Earth, and East for the Wind. He doubted that Gilbert was an Illuminated One, so why was he asking to be called by the North?

After four days of captivity, no food or water left and Ivan was about to go crazy from it all, He shouted Gilbert’s name from each of the directions. One of them had to be north, and he was pretty sure that Gilbert would hear him, in one way or another. He just wondered where the other would show up, if he did, and where he would come in.

Maybe he had to be outside? It had been a day, and there was nothing. He spent most of his time looking out the window, looking for any sign of the other, but found nothing. His small window to the outside world didn’t allow him to see much. The same abandoned looking village stayed still throughout the day, with the dog sometimes patrolling. 

Sniffing the air by his prison. That was nothing new, he had seen the other do it a few times.

He was awakened that night, by a sound that sounded louder than thunder, and a flash that he couldn’t even describe. 

It was brighter than both suns on the days where they overlapped each other, and created The Bright Hour. It took a moment before the force reached his prison, shaking Ivan out of bed, as he ran to his little window, to find a glowing, large bird, and the gryphon who hissed at it.

“You’re still alive.”

“I could say the same to you,” the old woman said, he guessed she was outside his prison, if not nearby. At least somewhere that he could hear clearly. “And we have your confident. There’s nothing that could remove your stench.”

“I will wipe this place out once and for all. No Illuminated will stand before me or any of my allies in such a way.”

Ally? Ivan felt some pride in that statement. He was an ally to such a powerful creature. He doubted any lesser one would be able to stand up to a gryphon or a crone. Both looked powerful.

The gryphon screamed, launching into the air to attack, Ivan wasn’t sure what happened in the air. The bird-Gilbert?-disappeared from view as both creatures went above. He heard crashes, screams, and he backed away from the window. He wasn’t sure if there was any safe place to be during a fight like this, so he hid in the corner that seemed to be the farthest away from the door and fighting, even if it echoed everywhere around him.

It felt like forever, but the fighting died down, a rather loud thump landing on the ground, and hard enough that the building Ivan was in shook from being near such a large impact. He stayed away from the door, and it was a good thing he did. A light brighter than the first one shone though, Ivan feeling blinded for a long while after it was gone, and the scream of the old woman died in his ears.

The door opened easily after that, Gilbert coming into the building, smoke coming in like a fog, or perhaps the residue of the magical forces being dissolved in his wake. He was glowing, Ivan wasn’t sure that he could compare it to anything except what he had seen before, in the tree tops while at that inn. Except he was fully conscious, looking somewhere between self satisfied and a bit annoyed. Perhaps the two outside had given him more of a hard time than he thought.

“You’re an idiot you know,” Gilbert said when he stood in front of Ivan, arms crossed as is blood gaze stared down at him. “Calling to all the Winds like that. Do you know that I heard your name from every direction? How long it took North to deliver where you were? Took him awhile to figure it out. Let them get their defenses up. Not that I can blame you now that I see where they kept you. But at least just pick one direction. I’ll get the message either way. North is just the most punctual.”

“I didn’t know,” Ivan frowned, trying to look anywhere but at Gilbert, which was proving to be distracting. It was the best policy really, he was an immortal, and Dark One. He deserved his chastity preserved as much as possible.

“Well it’s obvious you never dealt with any real power before,” Gilbert snorted. “Just remember next time, if you’re dumb enough to get caught again, just one of the winds. Well, one of the main four. You know how the others are. Always on their own agenda.”

“I’ve heard the legends and stories,” Ivan said, swallowing thickly. It felt like perhaps he shouldn’t have bothered, but there was no other way he could have got out of here, and he wasn’t wasting away in here for however many years or centuries that he surely would have had to rot.

“You’re hopeless,” Gilbert rolled his eyes. Another fearful mortal, although not for the usual reasons. His search came up a bust again, and this old crone with a grudge was just the icing on the cake. She had stolen one of the bones long ago in her youth that gave her immense power, but he took it back and he was surprised she put up so much fo a fight. Must have learned some new tricks since the last time that he was here. “Tell me, what is a son of the Darkness doing up here in Illuminated territory?”

“Searching for an answer,” Ivan said simply, what did someone with so much power care about that anyway? He wasn’t on par with anyone magical. A curse didn’t count, especially since it didn’t awaken any hidden talent of magic within him. All it did was hinder him.

“Cryptic,” Gilbert said, finally leaving the corner, sitting on Ivan’s bed with a snort. “Well I’m on a Search up here as well. What are you looking for? Maybe we can help each other a bit. Traveling around up here with the Twins always breathing down my neck is always a pain, and I’m sure that you haven’t been met with the kindest of people. Two of us together should make it a little more bearable. Maybe we can find what we’re both looking for too. Four eyes are better than two.

“By the Dark One’s Power how did you manage sleeping on this thing? Sleeping on the ground would have been more comfortable.”

Ivan was stunned, and stared at the glowing figure on his bed. He was slender, not really looking muscular at all, most likely because he was that giant bird he saw earlier, and either didn’t know how to shape shift well or this was the given form he was able to control. Either way, he looked human, but somehow seemed fuzzy, and didn’t look human at all.

His hair was too white, and fell too softly, sort of like feathers but then again, not. Ivan wasn’t able to really put his finger on what made him look so much different. The extremely pale skin didn’t help either. It was surprising that he hailed to the Dark Ones and not the Illuminated. He seemed to fit that description a lot more than he did the other.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Ivan said, standing up and sighing. “I slept with what I had. I would rather a bed than the floor really.”

“Whatever,” Gilbert said with a shrug. “But I thought this village would have been destroyed a long time ago. You know, that old crone was the last person here. She’s been waiting for a confrontation like that. I was hoping that you would go to the other road at the fork, like a sane person. That’s what so fascinating and annoying about mortals. You never do the expected, even when it’s in your best interests.”

“So you knew where I was going,” Ivan asked, stopping his packing for a moment. Gilbert knew? He wasn’t just giving him an old way because that was what he was used to?

“Of course I did. Any other way was out to hostile territory and I thought that going to a big city would help you out. You were in Iss-yer when I crashed there, and headed out to Iss-ghot, which meant that you were looking for another big city. Iss-ghot is on the way to a lot of them. Or at least the close ones to the area. Which means you’re looking for a place with a lot of information.

“I was hoping you’d go to Undyss-ina. They have one of the largest libraries in the area, and they aren’t like the forest people. They tend to like their books.” Gilbert sighed, rolling his eyes again. Wasn’t it clearly marked anymore? At least he knew that the road didn’t look nearly as bad or in disrepair as the one that Ivan had gone down. What more did the other mortal need to make the right decision? A sign in the stars?

“That’s good to hear,” Ivan said sheepishly, returning to his task. Gilbert was trying to help him out and what did he do?   
Get himself thrown into a building, shouted at all the Winds, and ended up forcing Gilbert into a rather large fight if the sounds and light were any indication.

“You’re too quiet. C’mon, we’re going to be travelling together a lot now. At least for a little while. Tell me, what’s your name? What city do you hail from?” A sinister grin crept along Gilbert’s face. “Can you guess exactly what I am?”

Ivan stopped what he was doing completely and looked at Gilbert critically. What was he trying to get at? Was he really that amusing? “My name is Ivan. I hail from the city of Codika, in the Cyzaf region. Near the Cyz mountains.” He didn’t answer the third question, he had an idea, but more questions about that than was polite.

“Oh come on, not even a guess,” Gilbert pouted, looking almost like a teenager with his mannerisms. “But that’s a long way from up here. You’re a long way from home.”

“If I guess now, that would mean that dragons returned to the Illuminated lands and we both know that after the war, no dragon wants to come up here anymore.”

“Well, you’re not as stupid as you look,” Gilbert grinned, leaning forward. “I am a phoenix, but not here on a dragon’s behalf. Or at least, not how you or any of these backwoods people are thinking of. That’s all you need to know for now.”

“I’m trying to break a curse,” Ivan replied, thinking that was the way the conversation was going. He stood up, looking at Gilbert with a tilted head and conflict. “But for the moment, I need you get up. I have to pack the bed roll.”

“A curse,” Gilbert echoed, getting up in a motion that Ivan couldn’t believe any human could do so gracefully. He had to stay focused, even though it was getting increasingly harder to do that. “You don’t see too many of those these days, nor any so powerful. At least not after the War.”

“So I keep hearing,” Ivan replied with a shrug, rolling up the bed roll. “I’ve been searching for a cure for a long time.”  
Gilbert considered Ivan for a few moments, watching the other roll up the bed roll, walking around him. “You don’t have any obvious signs of the cursed. Unless they hid them on you, which on one so young, usually sorceress aren’t that discrete. You must have pissed someone really off to get something like that done to you. So that no one could see where you need help.”

“It is not so much in a discrete place as much as a place that I do not show often,” Ivan replied, putting the roll on his back before picking up his pack. “It is that simple. But tell me, are you going to make the whole trip naked?”  
Gilbert looked down at himself, and back to Ivan, indifferent. This mortal was adorable, and would make a good pet in the right circumstances. It was sad that he most likely would be dead soon, either from the curse or just because mortals never lived long enough to enjoy everything the world had to offer. He almost wish that his own Search was at an end, and instead he was off doing errands for his other Half. Instead he still searched, and had nowhere to even put Ivan if he agreed. Ah, missed opportunities.

“Is the form not pleasing?” He was coy, leaning forward a bit, with a small crooked smile. “Or perhaps… a little too pleasing?”

Ivan rolled his eyes, Gilbert was pleasing to the eye, but this form, unlike his other one, was not much use without clothing and proper gear for traveling. It would become a hassle and Ivan didn’t need an immortal complaining the whole time that he was either cold, or perhaps bug bitten, or something like that.

It sort of made Ivan wonder where Gilbert had gotten the clothing in the forest, or if he just spooked someone into giving it to him.

“You are not in your original form and not protected,” Ivan said simply. “Clothing will also make you stand out less, unless you are looking to draw attention to us.”

Waving a hand, Gilbert snorted. “I got this covered.”

Watching him transform was something that Ivan never thought that he would be able to see in all of his days. He watched Gilbert simply shrink, keeping his proportions until he was about the size of a parrot, and then began the transformation. He had a crown of long feathers on his head that ran along his neck, and glossy white plumage that went from his head to his long tail feathers. He looked like all the pictures in the books of what a phoenix should look like, but unmistakingly white, with bright red eyes that studied him.

“See? Like I said! Taken care of.”

It was odd to hear a bird speak in that voice, let alone witnessing that. Ivan thought for a moment that he died, and this was how he was going to be taken home to the Dark One’s. That is, if he could die.

Flying up from the floor and perching on his shoulder, Ivan found Gilbert weight practically nothing. He wondered if all phoenixes weighed the same. “I will admit, it is convenient. And it will keep people from asking questions.”

“I know, I’m a genius,” Gilbert gloated. “But come on, it shouldn’t take but a few days to get there! And I know you gotta be starving. You look like you haven’t eaten in a few weeks!”

Ivan sighed, there would be no food for him today, but the hope of getting to Undyss-ina and finally something to eat drove him out of the village, with Gilbert preening on his shoulder.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A day late and a dollar short, but at least the chapter is here now!

# Chapter Six

“You look bad.”

Ivan thought that was an understatement, grunting in response. He felt worse. No food for three days and with Gilbert not needing to eat, of course the other didn’t understand exactly what Ivan was going through, and it was annoying. He tried to get Gilbert to help him hunt up something, but to no avail. The other ignored him and did whatever he wanted, and now Ivan was paying for it.

Three weeks without food was really starting to take its toll. Ivan had to do something about that or he would never make it to Undyss-ina. At least not in good condition, and he really didn’t want to get to the city in any condition but his top. After all, he had Gilbert, who would draw attention, his accent which was worse, and the usual city vagabonds to worry about. Especially pick pockets. He had enough problems without being robbed on top of it.

He laid in the grass, after fashioning a crude spear, and waited. They passed by a few trees a day earlier, and Ivan was depressed to find them either not fruit bearing or having any birds eggs that he was able to steal. Anything would be good really, but instead he took some sticks he could use as kindling, and crudely fashioned a spear that could be used to take something down.

A movement on his right, and Ivan sprung into action. He killed the rabbit with ease, thanking the Dark Ones for allowing him to have at least this to sustain him until he was able to arrive at Undyss-ina, where he was surely to be provided with a decent meal.

“You’re a skilled outdoors man,” Gilbert observed from his perch on Ivan’s shoulder.

Ivan was quiet, more focused on making a fire and cooking his kill after crudely skinning it. He wished he had all his tools. He would have to resupply at the city. Hopefully they had a good blacksmith. Having hunting gear as well as weapons were always a plaus when traveling, especially in enemy territory.

“Oh come on you can’t be that mad at me,” Gilbert whined. “I didn’t help you hunt because you needed to struggle a bit! I am one of the Dark One’s favorite creatures after all. You please me and therefore you please them! Don’t act like you didn’t know that!”

“So you would have rather seen me starve and never make it to Undyss-ina,” Ivan asked, turning his rabbit so that the other side could face the fire. It was cooking nicely, but would still need some time. Cooking meat this way wasn’t his favorite thing to do, fish was much easier, which made him yearn for a good lake. Making a fishing line was also much easier than something to kill a land animal.

“I would have brought you something before it could have come to that,” Gilbert snorted, starting to preen. Ivan had noticed that the phoenix always did that when he was either embarrassed, although this didn’t seem like the emotion he was portraying right now. He was sure that he would learn more the longer that they traveled together.

“Right,” Ivan sighed, poking the fire, and letting the silence carry on for a moment. He then had a thought, at leas the phoenix could tell him something about where they were going. “Do they have a good blacksmith in the city?”

“I hope so,” Gilbert said, crocking his head to the side and looking at Ivan with that unnerving, unblinking stare. “The last one they had there wasn’t worth his weight in the steel that he forged. There are a few good places to get traded goods, although the season for them are gone. There should be at least something left over though, and if not, there’s the library there. One of the oldest in this area.”

“At least there should be some books on what I am looking for,” Ivan said, turning the rabbit again. “What do you want to gain at the city?”

“Something that has been lost many years ago,” Gilbert said simply. “Something that is becoming harder and harder to find. I had thought that perhaps I got all that I was looking for in this area years ago, but my Masters have decided otherwise, and Mother says that there is something here I need to find.”

“Mother,” Ivan asked. “The mother of your dragon or your dragon? Forgive me, I was young when I left Codika. I never was able to learn all that I have should.”

“Not many know who Mother is anyway,” Gilbert replied. “Mother is the magic that created this world, and created my kind. She is loving, although always distracted, there’s much to do in the world still, especially with those in the Dark One’s and Illuminated names constantly using her for their goals. What they don’t know is that she belongs to neither, and that she is growing tired of the war between the two.

“She said that something important is in this area, something that I need, or I think so. She leads me to wherever I am closer to finishing my Search usually.”

“That sounds like a good mother,” Ivan replied, smiling a bit. That was nice to think about, Magic not belonging to either side, but instead the earth all its own. It was comforting, since magic would never abandon her children because they couldn’t stop their feuding.

“She is. Vague, but still good,” Gilbert agreed, continuing to preen.

They two sat in silence, comfortable and watching the fire slowly roast the rabbit. When it was done, Ivan tore into it with a hunger that he didn’t realize he had. Yes, he knew that he was starving, but the feeling was nowhere near the voraciousness that he thought that he still had in him.

He was sad when his rabbit was gone. He wanted, no needed, more, but that had been a lucky catch, and he doubted that he would have been able to get anything else, unless the Dark Ones were able to hear his pleas for more food all the way up here in Illuminated territory, which he doubted. Gilbert himself, forever oblivious to the distress of his mortal companion, looked at the cooling fire and the devoured rabbit, and back at Ivan.

“Time to go. The sooner we get there, the better honestly. The winds will not always be favorable, and the rains here are harsh.”

“I have experienced those already,” Ivan said perhaps a bit too bitterly. “But then, I also had something of an umbrella. I fear my leaf is long gone by now.”

Getting up, putting his pack on and making sure the fire was completely out, Ivan started again on the road, Gilbert faithfully perched on his shoulder. By the time the sun was getting ready to set, they made it back to the fork in the road, Ivan finding the smoother road in better repair and therefore easier to walk on, he as a bit sad that he hadn’t taken this way before, but still happy for the company Gilbert was able to give him.

He wasn’t aware just how used to being inside his own head that he had become. Barely knowing the language of the land let alone being from such an ‘unfavorable’ area didn’t give him many friends. At least he and Gilbert were able to travel about and converse, although Ivan was always struggling for a conversation starter, so the silence was merely comfortable with someone else there that he could converse with, if he ever found a good topic that is.

“Here would be a good spot to stop,” Gilbert said as they approached a large tree on the side of the road. “IT’s best to sleep under trees or under something in an area like this, you never know what is going to come out of the shadows and the winds this time of year are unpredictable. We’ve been lucky so far to not have run into bad weather.”

“The only bad weather that I have run into was at the beginning,” Ivan admitted. “It’s just been overcast mostly the time I have been out here. Perhaps it was that sorcerer in the village that was making this place so wild. There are instances where they have messed with the weather after all. There used to be an entire guild, so the rumors go, that were dedicated to such a practice.”

“Many years ago,” Gilbert agreed. “And it was dangerous. It was raided more times than can be remembered, and very few practice the art nowadays for good reason. It made Mother angry, and she took her revenge. She would tell the Charges to go and raid it, and those that dared to overstep their boundaries and the balance she so carefully created.”

“Charges,” Ivan asked, laying out his bedroll. Gilbert often used terms for things that he was unfamiliar with, but then again, how often did one converse with a phoenix?

“You would call them our dragons,” Gilbert responded. “They are our charges, Magic gave us to them to watch over them, and made us part of each other in that way. We help them in any way we can, we are their magic power, their messengers, and the ones that care for them when they pass on.”

“Where is yours then,” Ivan asked, it just seemed natural with how much Gilbert talked about it, his dragon had to be somewhere in the area at least. If not, when what sort of errand would have Gilbert in such hostile territory?

“I would rather not say,” Gilbert said, his stare turning serious, or somehow, Ivan knew it was series. “There are ears everywhere, remember that. Do not say information that you would rather be kept hidden, even in isolation. IF there is no one that would be listening, there are always the Dark Ones or the Illuminated, no matter where you go. It is good to remember that.”

Slowly nodding, Ivan didn’t understand, but instead let it go. It wasn’t something to be talked about apparently, and he could respect that at least a bit. He was happy for the conversation at least.

The next day, they made good traveling. In the morning, Ivan had found a birds nest, and was able to steal a few eggs that he escaped with, not eating them until they were well down the road form the tree and the angry mother. He didn’t take all of them, but he was sure that she would be mad when she came back anyway. Something in him told him to wait and just take the nest and the mother, but that would be too cruel, even for him. This would be enough for now. Hopefully he was granted another rabbit later in the day.

It was peaceful, but hot, not as humid as the forest, but it was still much too warm for Ivan’s liking. He wondered if there was any place in the Northern Places that had snow, or any temperate or even cold weather, with the twin suns constantly watching over the place. He preferred the moon really, it was much prettier and so much less harsh. He could understand now why the northerners were so easy going when they traded with the South. It was much too warm to have any of the harshness that he was used to.

“We should make it to Undyss-ina within the day if we keep this up,” Gilbert chittered excitedly. “And a place with many people, and may other nooks and crannies to look.”

Ivan knew better than to ask Gilbert what he was looking for, any attempt had been shut down, even if he was sure that he deserved to know at least a little, so that he could keep an eye out as well. But it wouldn’t do to just ask the question to be shot down again, he would just have to wait and watched for what Gilbert looked for. Perhaps it had something to do with the dragon fang that was constantly around his neck? Ivan would bet most of his gold on it.

“I hope that you find whatever you’re looking for,” Ivan said with a happy hum. He didn’t let the fact that he didn’t know Gilbert’s secret get him down. It had to be some sort of Immortal thing, always wanting to appear mysterious to the mere mortal. He was more focused on perhaps finding something to help himself along to be worried about Gilbert’s mysterious search for whatever it was.

“I’m sure I’ll find something,” Gilbert replied. “Mother never lies.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Depression can suck my ass. Anyway, here ya go.

# Chapter Seven

Undyss-ina was the largest city that Ivan had come across in his travels in the north. It reminded him of some of the medium sized cities of his own lands, which he ached for terribly. He ignored it for now, his journey was much more important than those kinds of sentimental thoughts, or so he kept telling himself. He researched all that he could there, and hoped that Magic had inspired someone up here, in these lands, to be able to relieve him of his curse.

“I’ll be in touch,” Gilbert said as they approached the walls, the gates open and people trickling in and out of the road. Most likely heading to the farms that they passed on their way there. The roads were surprisingly sparsely populated, Ivan wondered if there was an alternate way that people were getting around, but figured that he would find out when he was able to actually get into the walls.

Watching Gilbert fly off silently, he could have sworn that the bird actually became smaller in size, most likely to be able to fit in more easy and not be as noticeable. He wanted to ask why Gilbert was such a weird color, but figured that rude and that he would be able to find out eventually. Hopefully. Gilbert was just full of mysteries that he wasn’t sure that he was ever meant to uncover.

The roads leading to the city were well taken care of and paved, which was a rarity where Ivan was from. The constant weather changes made it so that dirt roads, and all the problems that came with them, were actually easier to maintain and travel on during certain times of the year, even if springs and thaws always proved to be a hassle to get through. But it seemed much more temperate up here, and the smoothed out roads attested to that theory.

The houses were all built with what looked like trees taken from the rainforest, as there really weren’t many in the area, or perhaps that was the reason why, Ivan couldn’t tell, but they were sturdy and perhaps a little squat, maybe this place did get snow from time to time? They had the roof style for snow, or a lot of rain. Either way, Ivan felt more comforted at that, than the little pod like homes of the rainforest, where he felt much too tall to be existing, and even though he was taller than most of the inhabitants here just by sight, Ivan already felt more welcomed into the city than he did the rainforest.

Like the people of the forests, these people were dark skinned, and rather open and friendly. He wondered if it was because of the Illuminated that kept them smiling. The Dark Ones favored happiness to be an intimate thing, something that was shared among those that knew each other well, or were in a setting where enjoyment was meant to be had by everyone.  
But here, there was always smiling, friendly hellos to people that one never met before in their life. It was odd to Ivan. Where it was polite to say hello to someone, smiling was generally for people that you knew or were expecting. Perhaps he needed to look up on the teachings of the Illuminated to understand such a strange custom, Ivan always felt like he was being much too stern, not being able to return the gesture naturally, always forced, but he was rarely confronted about it. Perhaps he looked much more   
Southern than he had originally thought.

“You look like you’re not from around…. Anywhere,” a young man said, looking much like a merchant with finery. Ivan wished that his grasp on common was more concrete. Then it would be easier to speak.

“Ah… No. I am from the Southern places,” He replied a bit awkwardly. He hadn’t realized that he and Gilbert had been conversing in Southern Common, which didn’t do much for his language skills. He would have to ask Gilbert perhaps if they could speak in more Northern Common, to try to get Ivan’s skills up a bit. “And you look… ah, like a merchant of the area?”

“I am a traveler myself, never been that far south,” The merchant said, his smile dropping a bit. “But welcome to Undyss-ina! I have many fine things for sale, you should perhaps come and look! Something for a traveler like yourself to take back to your lands and proof that you have made it this far into the blessed Illuminated territories!”

Ivan thought about it for a moment, making it look like he was searching for the right words, but it was more of he needed a minute. Obviously business was slow, this wasn’t the peak season for travelers or anything like that. It was the season for growing and tending to finances carefully before the harvest, where everyone seemed to be able to exchange things more freely. He didn’t want to appear rude though, merchants often had good information lines, and burning bridges like that was rather unwise.

“If you had a card, I could find you when I am settled,” Ivan offered instead. He would much rather do this gesture than be cheated out of his money at the start. And it was a good excuse as any to get out of the situation. Plus, when he was a bit more settled, he would be able to find his way to the merchant’s shop if needed, and if not, well, he was a lone traveler and getting lost in large places wasn’t and uncommon thing, even with directions it was sometimes hard to find the right way in the winding streets.

“Of course,” the merchant agreed gladly, a potential customer was always better than being denied outright. Although the chances lessoned for Ivan to actually come and view his wares, a warm gesture usually went a long way, especially if anyone else from the South came up and Ivan recommended him. It was a good business move.

He held out the card, and Ivan took it with a slight incline of his head in thanks, tucking it away safely. It was just a plain piece of paper for now, most cards merchants and sorcerers had were magic infused to be able to show the way or perhaps even start to glow when the person with it came close. This one in particular had a name that Ivan couldn’t read well, as well as a small map that had the shop indicated by a black dot that would most likely turn red the closer that Ivan got to it. It was a standard card and practice, Ivan was glad for that.

“Thank you friend,” Ivan said, forcing a smile while trying to make it look natural, and by the merchant’s eye’s, he wasn’t doing a very good job fo it, but the merchant wasn’t going to be too rude to say so. “May the light of the suns always shine on your path.”  
“and my your path never be cased in darkness,” the merchant replied easily, and with that, Ivan was on his way, glad that he had at least a potential lead later if he needed one.

The streets were more and more crowded the further that Ivan went into the heart of the city. There were many merchants, and carts with goods being rolled in and out of the small plazas and sometimes towards what Ivan assumed to be a larger one or perhaps just onto the next stop in their journey. There didn’t seem to be a lot of exchanges going on, which had Ivan wondering about the economy, or perhaps these travelers just hit at the wrong time, which was always a possibility. Sometimes weather or other factors made trains of wagons stop short of here they were going to go, although Ivan could only wonder exactly what went so wrong to have so many come in out of season.

As he listened to the crowds, or at least those that didn’t seem to be afraid of him with hissed whispers of Dark Ones and others clutching whatever jewelry they had with the Twin’s symbol on them, he heard that there were rumblings in the dark places here. What that meant, no one could guess, but nothing good for sure. There were rumors that the south was preparing for war, Ivan almost snorted from that. The tense peace was kept because both sides often said the other was preparing for war, it just seemed dumb really.

After all, after the Great Wars, no one had the resources and Magic was much too tired to go through that again. Perhaps the rumblings from the earth were not the Dark Ones trying to encroach on the Illuminated Lands but instead magic healing itself, it was always a possibility. After all, there was a surge of sorcerers lately, which could mean that Magic was gaining back its strength and that wonders could be done again.

That and they had learned their lessons, or Ivan liked to think that they did. They exhausted the world all those centuries ago, so the books said. So much so that any wonders that could be performed now were gifts of the gods to the earth nd that they should never take it for granted. Only things like dragons and gryphons, who were said to be hated enemies during the war, were the dangers to either side. There were always rumors of a sighting here or there. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

But the appearance by an actual phoenix was something that was to be worried about, Ivan knew, as he listened to the snippets of what happened in the rain forest, as well as suspicious looks. He expected it now. He was a Southerner and there was a dragon’s familiar about the Illuminated lands, something that hadn’t happened since the gods selected the boundaries to the world and said that there would be peace and trade among the people, and enforced it from time to time.

But this changed things up a bit, Ivan could only hope that a war was not coming. That would mean that there would be even more magic used, and that it would do all sorts of harm to the world that they all worked to create. He wished almost that many people would have as long as a life as he had. Yes, it would make it less lonely, but it would also offer time to change views, and learn that one way to view something was generally not a good thing, and that the world held more wonders than could ever be told in less than one hundred years.

Finding the inn was proving to be harder than he thought. He wanted to ask anyone he could for directions, but with the looks that he was getting from some of the locals, he doubted that anyone but those who were travelers themselves would help him find it. And then came the problem if his gold didn’t talk louder than his accent as well as the prejudice against it. Not that he could say anything really. In his own home, before all this cursed business came about, Ivan was wary against outsiders as well. Perhaps it was just natural, either way, it still hindered him a bit.

He looked around for any signs on the buildings that would lead him to an inn, there usually was a making or something that he could make out without being able to read much. This was a new dialect, one that he never came across before and he wasn’t exactly sure that he was reading it right in the first place. He wished he had Gilbert with him, perhaps the phoenix would have been able to help him out a bit.

“Southerner.”

Ivan turned to face a group of men, the tallest one barely reaching his neck, but Ivan didn’t want to start any trouble. He put his hands out in front of him, palms facing the sky. It was said that this allowed the Illuminated to even know that one carried no ill intentions or weapons to harm, he could only hope that this gesture was respected by the group before he was run out of town. Which would be troublesome. He had to sneak into some libraries before, and he wasn’t below doing it here.

“Forgive me. I understand more than I speak,” Ivan said, testing out his tongue. He hated how thick his accent was up here, and how noticeable he was. He wished he could just slowly blend into a crowd, but in the Illuminated Lands, there was just no way for him to do so.

“What are you here for,” the one that Ivan identified as the leader of the five men, asked him. He was a little shorter than the tallest one, but obviously much more dangerous. He looked quick, and with well built arms, Ivan knew that he would be in real trouble if the other decided to start a fight.

“Research,” Ivan said simply. “here to use the library if I could. Do you know where the inn is? I am afraid that I have not yet been able to pick out the sign. Where my speech is lacking, reading even more,” Ivan hated this. Why couldn’t both continents have the same Common language? It would be much more convenient and would have allowed Ivan to be able to read the signs and avoid all this from the start.

The group muttered to themselves for a moment, All with one eye on him, as Ivan kept up the gesture. His arms were sore by the end of it, from holding the open position for so long. When they seemed to have come to an agreement, Ivan regretting that he didn’t know this dialect at all, the leader frowned, and looked as if he was trying to read Ivan, but somehow couldn’t. Perhaps the man was some sort of sorcerer? If he was, Ivan hoped that he knew at least a little something that could be of help to him.

“The Inn is on that street,” the leader said, pointing to a rather crowded area. “You will be able to tell. Inns in the area generally look the same. You can find the library from there as well. Do not start trouble, you will not be hard to find, and I will make sure that you are punished severely.”

Threats like that weren’t new to Ivan, who nodded graciously before turning to take his leave. He understood, trouble from a foreigner could cause a war, especially with those that traveled between the two lands. It was always the best policy to nip any potential problems in the bud, and he couldn’t blame the group for their threatening manor nor the fact that they wanted to make sure that he stayed in the lines that their society had made. Ivan would do his best, war was not something that he wanted a hand in.

He did find the inn easily, the sign was the same as the others that he had encountered, just like the man had told him, even if he was being followed, Ivan was happy. He figured that he would be followed the next few days, just to make sure that he was doing what he said he was and wasn’t there to harm anyone. Ivan again, could understand. He used to do the same thing to those that came that far South to come into Codika, but usually no one had come there to start up trouble, just to see the sights that the borders were sort of open, at least for those that knew how to get around them.

Or had the money to bribe those that guarded them closely. Ivan had learned more than his fair share of trades that made him the pretty gold coins that he carried around with him, and was thankful that at least his time was something that he could use to his advantage.

The innkeeper was a jolly old man, who was more than happy to accommodate Ivan with a small room with a window for a rather modest price. It didn’t include food, but that was fine. Ivan had plenty of money for the prices that were offered him. He made his first task ordering himself a meal, mouth watering at just the mention. He would finally be able to eat something substantial, hopefully it wouldn’t be interrupted by someone like gilbert coming through a closed, and magically sealed, door.

He was lucky, as the food was se before him, Ivan wasn’t sure what to try first. The meat looked tender with a dark sauce, and the fruits of the area looked even sweeter in the marinade that they were soaked in, Ivan picked up his spoon and started slowly, he didn’t want to over do it after all and seem like a wild beast, even though he was hungry enough to try to eat like one really. Maybe he should have taken the food to his room, that would have at least got rid of some of the awkwardness.

Eating slowly was actually for the best. He didn’t realize just how little that he was able to eat now, he would have to build back up to make sure that he wouldn’t be malnourished, but most of the meal was gone, Ivan sighing happily. He would go out and find the library the next day, there was no use in rushing things after all. He was sure that Gilbert needed time to find whatever he was looking for after all. Ivan just wished he knew exactly what it was.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have the next one too because I feel bad.

# Chapter Eight

Gilbert pretended to peck at the seeds being thrown to him as he joined a group of birds that settled in around an alleyway. He kept his eyes watchful, and made sure that Ivan never strayed too far from him. After all, Ivan was someone that he needed to keep an eye on, especially here. He had been here before, once, and he wasn’t welcomed at all, he doubted that Ivan would be. He looked much too different and stood out, he’d run into trouble eventually.

That and his inability to read would make him hard pressed during his research, unless he had a talisman that would translate, and with the age of magic gone, and very few things from that era around in abundance anymore, Gilbert doubted that Ivan was able to get one. He would have to sneak into the library to translate, which was fine. Most of the bones he was looking for ended up in such places, always gravitating to where knowledge was kept. Especially here up in the North. They were treated like things to examine, to try to solve the mystery of dragons.

Much better than trying to retrieve an object that was being held as a religious order. The Order of the Dragon was always a pain in any phoenix’s side while on a Search with the way that they always ended up with the bones and then protecting them under lock and key, and spells if the head leader was smarter than the average human. Not that it ever stopped any of them, it just added a level of difficulty that was rather annoying.

“Such a rare bird.”

“I have never seen one like that or that color.”

“I have, in the rain forests. They are usually all sorts of different colors. Perhaps it is a good omen. Look how white it is. Like the Suns’ light. And with red eyes like Their core. Perhaps we are going to finally end this drought.”

Or have it continue, Gilbert thought to himself, taking wing with the others when a small child went to try to pet on of the others. He hated acting so brainless, but he knew better than the drought to end. He was in the vicinity after all, and the Suns both knew, and would try to make their light harsh as they could to try to drive him back out into the more familiar darkness of the earth. Too bad for them, he had something to do.  
He felt a warmth near his heart, where the hidden dragon fang rested under his feathers, hidden from prying eyes as much as he could. There was something here. He could feel it now. Mother always knew where the bones were before they did. It was like a giant game of hide and seek, although for Gilbert, he wasn’t sure why his had to last so long.

–

Ivan woke up with a start, a slight knocking on his window startled him out of bed. He thought going to bed early would be best, and the bed was comfortable and lulled him to sleep in no time. The sun was just beginning to set, but Ivan felt like he could sleep the next few days away. He opened the window, Gilbert letting himself in easily, preening as he perched on the bed frame.

“I’m in luck. I thought you would go to bed early,” Gilbert said, watching Ivan close the window and go back under the covers.

Ivan didn’t feel like talking, sleeping sounded so much better. He grunted as an answer, and fell back to sleep fitfully, at least until the morning, when he felt eyes starting at him, something that Ivan did not like.

He cracked an eye open, finding nothing amiss, at least nothing was out of the ordinary. It was still a little dark out, the first sun hadn’t risen very high yet, which meant that his room wouldn’t get much light yet. So why did it feel like someone was staring at him.

“You know, it’s rude to fall asleep when someone is talking to you,” Gilbert said, in his human form, but thankfully with a blanket over his lower half, allowing Ivan to concentrate and not think of how cold it must be and let alone dangerous. Especially if someone saw the slightly glowing figure in his room. “I was trying to ask you if you had a talisman to translate the books for you.”

“Talisman,” ivan questioned, sitting up a bit and rubbing his eyes. “I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never actually bought one. Out of my price range, you know. Well, a bit anyway. I travel too much and have to hide a lot of my things depending on what area I enter. Like now I have to restock on my hunting gear and the like. It’s out somewhere on the boundary of the rainforest where I came in.

“The one that I can’t go back to. Not after you pretty much had the entire forest off limits and have sparked a sort of panic through this area.”

“They shouldn’t have seen the fight with myself and the crone, it’s too far away,” Gilbert huffed, his feathers ruffling as he puffed himself up. It was rather undignified, but that was Ivan’s fault, not his own! “It’s too far to the east to see from here. But no one knows what I look like, at least not here. If we have to go back south, there are a million other pathways in the forest. I prefer the ground way, it’s dark and there’s help.”

Ivan shuddered at the thought, the beasts that he had heard roaming about during the nights there? Did Gilbert really consider them help? He sided with the Illuminated people in the respect to stay as a far away from them as he possibly could. That just seemed like the smartest thing to do really.

“Either way, I don’t have a talisman unless some shop has them here, or if even I can afford one while getting some of the tools that I need. Hopefully the next city that we go to is larger. I prefer being able to work a bit where I go.”

“You settle,” Gilbert exclaimed, Ivan was sure that if birds could, Gilbert would have rolled his eyes. “You settle at a place? No wonder it’s taken you so long to get here! You either find what you’re looking for or you move on if there’s nothing!”

“And phoenixes do not have to worry about money,” Ivan replied with a shrug. “It’s a good way to make money, there’s nothing wrong with it. Besides, you seem to be able to enjoy the comforts of an inn or two. People are also generally more willing to give up vital pieces of information the longer that you are around. Although I am sure that you knew that already, right? Being an immortal and obviously much more intelligent than me, you have to at least know that much.”

“I don’t have to rely on such petty ways,” Gilbert scoffed. Ivan was learning how to get under his feathers and that fact was starting to annoy him. “Mother tells me where to look and something is always in the area I go. It’s much more simple and faster than your way.”

“must be nice,” Ivan said grumpily, laying back down and covering his face back up. “Wake me up when the second sun rises. It is far too early to even be thinking about waking up.”

“Lazy mortal,” Gilbert muttered, but perched on the small nightstand, starting to preen, waiting for the second sun to finally rise and for Ivan to actually do something.

–

Yawning again, out on the streets with the throng of people and Gilbert sitting on his shoulder, he headed out to the library. He didn’t see anyone from the group that stopped him on the previous day, but he was sure that they had eyes and ears in places he couldn’t see. Either way, it was hot, but not the oppressive humidity of the rain forest, at least not yet. He listened about the drought, but ignored most of the thought about that. The world had its cycles, and there was little to nothing that could be done about it.

The library was a large dome building off to the side of the city, the middle was mostly for the carts that the traveling salesmen usually happened on, and the city’s leaders were clear across the other side, which sat well with Ivan. He didn’t like it when everything was crowded together, he always ran into trouble when it came to those that were in power. He wasn’t sure if it was part of the curse or just a talent that he inherited, but he rarely got along with those that ran the cities or towns that he came to. North or South.

Entering the library, Ivan breathed in deeply, like he always did. The first scents of a library were like magic to him, a magic that softly wafted from the shelves of scrolls older than he cared to imagine and books that sat preserved on their shelves, magic making sure that they stayed pristine and available for centuries to come and outlast perhaps all of them. Ivan loved the places where books were, the quiet places of the bustling city where he could escape and not have to worry about pleasing this or that person, books were nonjudgmental, and would give him the information that he needed regardless of his temperament or allies.

Making his way to a ladder, he noticed that this was one of the few libraries that he had been to where people actively went. Whether if it was because of the increasing heat in the outside world or just because they had a love of books as well, Ivan wasn’t sure, but it made him hopeful. If a place liked books and scrolls this much to preserve such a full library, perhaps then there was hope of him finding his curse.

“Phoenix legends,” Ivan whispered to a ladder, he felt Gilbert grip him tighter when the ladder started to move, Ivan surprised at the number of books that there were on the subject. And here they were not looked well upon, unlike his own land. It was pleasantly surprising, no wonder Gilbert had led him here.

“Take the large one,” Gilbert said, considering the collection. “And the one with the red and silver spine, those are good editions. They don’t really hype up what we can do. Unlike some of the other ones… Oh! The blue one! I haven’t seen that one in quite a few years. But it’s one of the best go to books still. It was written before your great grandparents were even born. During the Age of Knowledge.

“Ah, one of the better ones.”

Gilbert continued on as Ivan took the books that Gilbert had picked out. Where the Ages before hand were sort of interesting, Ivan had other things to worry about. Such as getting these to a place that was isolated from everyone so that Gilbert could translate for him and making sure that he didn’t bring attention to himself and the area that he was in. He whispered to the ladder to find a secluded area, Gilbert shutting his beak when they started to move again.

They were on the third floor by the time the ladder thought that they were in a secluded enough area, Ivan humming happily as he got down, books in hand. Gilbert shook his head, where his natural form was better for him, he had to admit, there were advantages to forms like Ivan’s. Even if they took a lot of magic and energy to transform into them. Not getting dizzy from ladders had to be one of them.

Ivan walked to a nearby table, setting the books down with a thud that seemed to echo in the little nook, he was happy to see that there weren’t anyone else around. Behind him, there were large windows that overlooked the city and bazaar, the carts for the day opening up as the second sun rose higher into the sky. He admired the view for a moment, before he hear Gilbert shuffling around, looking at the phoenix as he tried to get the blue bound book from the pile.

“You really do like that volume,” Ivan commented quietly, getting the book from under the pile, Gilbert eagerly and expertly going through the pages, finding one that he apparently liked.

“Of course I do. I knew the Arthur you know, a quiet man, good stature. It’s a shame that he never bred, I’m sure that his children would have done even more great things,” Gilbert sighed wistfully. “He’s the only one that I have ever allowed to document me, or really talk about my kind. We like to keep some things a mystery after all, it’s just more fun that way.”

“And what does this great professor say about you,” Ivan asked, looking over the pages. He couldn’t read a word of it, not that it surprised him that much. But what was surprising was the fact that it didn’t look like the local language either. Something akin to it, but yet completely unfamiliar at the same time.

“No one can read this now days,” Gilbert said. “But I still remember how to read this, it’s simple really. You need to get a better grasp on reading Northern Common. It’d make your life a lot easier than it has been.”

“Thank you for the advice, but what does it say,” Ivan asked, sitting down finally, looking at the illustrations. He had seen some of them before, well, not quite the same, but the same concept. Phoenixes flying on fire in the sky, wings spread of all sorts of different colors. But this one had what Ivan thought to be a picture of Gilbert, if it weren’t for the black tips and edges. Stylistic choice? Or perhaps there were more white phoenixes out there in the world.

“Mostly how we are born,” Gilbert replied. “Which I can tell you right now with all the pretty prose. Phoenixes are born from the first flame of a dragon. We stay with them for life, and send them into the next one when they die. We collect their bones and we burn with them, to return as the fire and embodiment of their soul in the next life. Dragons always are reborn as dragons, it’s the way of the world. I just love his artistic sense really. Devon was a master. It’s sad that there was no one to take up his art.”

“So that picture really is you,” Ivan asked, listening to what he already knew. Legends in Codika weren’t that far off from what Gilbert was telling him. Perhaps the phoenix forgot that he was one born of the Southern Wastes? That or felt like hearing his own voice.

“Not me, an old friend,” Gilbert replied. “He was a white phoenix in that life, I believe this one, he is more of the crimson and orange color. I’ve only seen him in passing, we can tell who is who no matter what they look like in a recent incarnation. Our souls stay the same after all.”

“But what about your magic powers,” Ivan asked, flipping through the book. Many of the images were rather beautiful and intricate, he wondered how the masters made them in the ancient times. Perhaps magic? It was said before the Magic Wars, magic roamed freely and anyone could use it for almost any purpose that they deemed good and just. Art or at least supplies to make such works of art wouldn’t have been in that short of supply.

“Powers,” Gilbert echoed, crest falling a bit. “Powers are something subjective really. We can shape shift, we each have two forms. It’s common for the other one to be of an animal, but you have seen my own in the forests. I have a human like second form, that I can be in for any amount of time that I see fit. I can… could communicate with my Dragon via telepathic link. I can also call forth.. could call forth my dragon’s flame if needed.

“Then there are tears. They cure many things, or they are said to. I have not cried in a very long time. I’m not sure I can even anymore so I have never really worried bout that.”

“Tears,” Ivan said, frowning. He turned back a few pages to a picture that showed a phoenix crying over the body of a human. Ivan pointed to the picture. “Read this.”

“’It is said that the tears of a Phoenix can even cure death if it is soon enough. That is the gift the world gave these creatures. They are eternally bound to their beast, but they can help any that they choose to. A single tear could erase disease from a mortal’s life entirely, making them whole until the end of their days. It is said that if any more than two fall, the mortal will become immortal, incapable to dying any other way but by their own hands.’” Gilbert heard all of this before, and was sure that this was what Ivan wanted to hear about anyway.

“So maybe,” Ivan said, hopefully, looking at the foreign words. Maybe…if he was lucky…

Gilbert stopped the thoughts in its tracks. “Do not get ahead of yourself. Curses are much different than illness. I don’t know any Phoenix that has broken a curse by its tears. And we are very hard to make cry. We have to either feel great remorse for a mortal or perhaps their story moves us in such a way that we cannot help but want to help them. Curses are generally rather specific when it comes to breaking them. Do you even know what you’re is called? If not, then don’t get your hopes up.”

Ivan deflated in his chair, taking another book from the pile, trying hard to not let his hope die. He was sure that he had found at least something of a way to break his curse, but it would seem that he had become too hopeful much too soon. Every time he caught a break like this, it ended up in another road block. Ivan was sure the next one would lead to something more cemented, he was sure of it.

A sudden commotion in the street made Ivan’s head whip around towards the window, looking out at the street below, where a crowd had gathered. The streets were rapidly becoming more crowded, as a procession tried to make its way down the street. Ivan’s misery was forgotten as he watched the golden carriage, carried by two proud looking gryphons that had Gilbert on his shoulder hissing in displeasure.

“Who is coming that way,” Ivan asked. “the palace is on the other side of the city.”

“It’s someone that is both revered and pitied,” Gilbert said. “The crest on the carriage is that of the Burned Phoenix. It is her. The Phoenix Queen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pacing is overrated.


End file.
